Here's some stuff that I hope y'all might find of interest. I wrote and published the following on the net some years ago, and most of the links are now broken, so I won't include them here, but the sources once linked to were the best I could find at the time.
Worldwide, the leading causes of women and girls entering into prostitution are most likely poverty and lack of economic opportunities compounded by a lack of education. And those factors also seem to play a role in why American women enter into prostitution:
Results of a recent study of women in Toledo involved in prostitution revealed that 81% hadnt earned a high school diploma. Forty-eight percent, nearly half the women interviewed, had no previous work history. All of the women were eligible for welfare benefits and all came from families where their parents lived in poverty or fluctuated from poverty to working class throughout their childhood. None of the women were currently married, nor did any of the women who were parents consistently collect child support for the children they were attempting to raise. Therefore, street prostitution is largely representative of the poor, single, and less educated. With very few skills, a limited education, and minimal, if any, work experience, these women saw prostitution as a way to succeed in otherwise blocked entrances to conventional opportunities.
Yet, poverty, lack of opportunities, and lack of education are not the entire American story.
Numerous studies have found that over half of the women and girls working as prostitutes in America have a history of childhood physical and sexual abuse. In one study, for instance, 57% percent of the prostitutes interviewed reported childhood sexual abuse, by an average of three perpetrators. Thus, it seems plausible there might be a causal link between abusing a child and her later becoming a prostitute.
Other factors such as substance abuse also seem to play a part in why women and girls enter into prostitution in America:
Some prostitutes explanation for becoming involved in prostitution include having a history of sexual abuse, having grown up without love from the significant adults in their lives, being enticed by a male of female friend or by peer pressure from a group of friends, and needing money. Those who used drugs prior to their involvement in prostitution activities mention their addiction as a major reason for trading sex for money or drugs.
So it would seem the typical American prostitute comes from a fairly hellish background. That might go far to explain why one study found that some prostitutes specifically, those who work in bordellos or as outcall girls actually gain self-esteem after entering into prostitution. If you are coming from hell, a bordello might seem a good place to be. However, no studies suggest working on the street is a good place to be.
Precise statistics on how many women in America walk the streets cannot be found. The National Task Force on Prostitution suggests that over one million women have worked as prostitutes. But that figure which is merely an estimate includes both women who walk the streets and women who work other venues, such as massage parlors or bordellos.
To complicate matters, the percent of prostitutes who walk the streets varies from city to city. Where the police and courts have suppressed bordellos, massage parlors, outcall services, and other venues, the ratio of street walkers to all prostitutes can be as high as one in two.
